FREE DSST PRACTICE TEST: MONEY AND BANKING

Table of Contents

Studying for the Money and Banking DSST exam? Whether you’re ready to test or just getting started, we’ve got the tools you need to find success.

If you’re just getting started, use the study guide below to review everything this test will cover. If you’re already well into your exam prep, use the practice test below to evaluate your progress. And if you’re eager for more learning, use the recommended resources at the bottom to continue learning. Have fun!

Money and Banking Study Guide

Topics covered are outlined below:

The Role and Kinds of Money - 7%

Money performs four main functions: 1. a medium of exchange – people use it to pay for goods and services; 2. a unit of account – to compare prices and value of goods and services; 3. a store of value – it will keep its current value (more or less) for a future date; 4. a standard of deferred payment – a current debt can be paid off at a future date or over time. Money should also have the qualities of: 1. durability – it won’t rust or be easily damaged or destroyed; 2. portability – easy to carry around in your wallet or purse; 3. divisibility – can be divided into smaller denominations; and 4. hard to counterfeit – not easily copied. Any asset which performs these functions and possesses these qualities can be defined as ‘money’. Over time, money has taken the form of: 1. commodities – as in a barter economy, exchanging goods or services for other goods or services (not common these days); 2. metallic money – gold, silver, copper, etc., either full-bodied (e.g. Kruger Rand) or token; 3. paper money – convertible to gold, or inconvertible/fiat money; 4. bank and credit money – checks, promissory notes, letters of credit, etc. Some sources distinguish between commodity money (gold, silver), fiat money (paper money), and bank money (checks, credit cards, etc.). Other sources distinguish three main types of money as (1) currency (sometimes called fiat money because it has no intrinsic value, apart from that decreed by the issuing authority), (2) bank deposits, and (3) central bank reserves. Although regarded as stores of value or wealth, other assets such as property, art, stamp collections, rare wines, etc. do NOT fall within the definition of money.

Commercial Banks and Other Financial Intermediaries – 28%

Deposit deregulation: a. The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (Monetary Control Act) required the Reserve Banks to standardise their practice with regard to the pricing of financial services to depository institutions (banks). b. In 1999, Bill Clinton signed into law the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which repealed the 66-year-old Glass-Steagall Act. This repeal allowed commercial banks to engage in investment banking and insurance activities, previously prohibited. It was a big step forward in recognising banking’s evolved role in managing the financial markets. Structure of the banking industry: The banking system is regulated by the Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed) which is responsible for controlling the amount of money in the system. All banks must apply for a licence to operate either nationally (federal charter) or locally (state charter). Nearly 40% of the over 8 000 commercial banks in the US are members of the Federal Reserve System, and are required to hold 3% of their capital as stock in their Reserve Banks. Banking regulations ensure that banks do not take excessive risks in their lending practices, and that they maintain a certain level of financial reserves to protect their liquidity. The regulators also promote free competition so that customers are charged a fair price for banking services.

Commercial banks perform a number of functions, but mainly these: 1. To facilitate the flow of funds between lenders and borrowers; this is a savings and wealth storage function, whereby surplus funds are safely stored in risk-free or low-risk financial instruments (government or non-government securities), thereby generating wealth (interest-bearing savings) while making these funds available for interest-bearing loans. 2. Efficient allocation of funds: banks try to allocate surplus funds according to their assessment of the client’s credit-worthiness, so as to reduce the dual risks of adverse selection (lending to clients who may be a bad risk) and moral hazard (borrowers taking risks with the bank’s loan money which were not disclosed in the loan application). The bank’s borrowing and lending pricing policies will reflect the degree of risk involved in the transaction. 3. Assistance in price discovery: commercial banks are the experts in the pricing of financial services and securities, to ensure the equitable and market-related distribution of surplus funds, and also to ensure that they remain competitive in the market. Apart from the nearly 3000 member banks of the Federal Reserve System, there are another 17 000 deposit and lending institutions including non-member commercial banks, savings banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions. All are subject to the same banking regulations.

Deposit insurance: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is there to regulate banks’ lending practices, to make sure that banks do not take excessive risks which could result in bank failure. The FDIC covers defaulting bank’s investor deposits by up to $100 000.

Central Banking and the Federal Reserve System – 18%

Structure and organization: The Federal Reserve System comprises: • the seven-member Board of Governors based in Washington DC; • 12 Federal Reserve Banks spread regionally throughout the US; and • 24 branches. The Fed has three primary functions: • Formulate monetary policy; • Oversee and supervise the banks; • Provide financial services to the banks (“the banker’s bank”). The Board’s most important function is to participate in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) which determines the country’s monetary policy and money supply. The FOMC is made up of the seven Governors, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and four other Reserve Bank presidents who alternate from amongst the twelve Federal Reserve Banks. The committee meets eight times a year in Washington to discuss the US economic outlook and monetary policy. Historical framework: The Fed was founded in 1913 to provide a measure of control and stability to the US economy, as well as an oversight over the growing financial sector, and the increasing world trade. The 12 regions were – and still are – based on economic rather than geographic or state-line considerations. Initially, the 12 Reserve Banks were expected to operate quite independently, to the extent of separately-determined discount rates, for example. But as the economy became more integrated and complex, there was a need for greater collaboration, and the sharing of systems and policies. One of the first signs of this collaboration was the formation of the FOMC through changes to the Federal Reserve Act in 1933/35, and later the Monetary Control Act of 1980 which regulated the pricing of financial services. Current monetary management: The Fed Board has a number of statutory advisory councils, drawn from the twelve Federal Reserve regions, which meet two to four time a year to advise on current issues: 1. Federal Advisory Council 2. Community/Consumer Advisory Council 3. Thrift Institutions Advisory Council 4. Model Validation Council The individual Reserve Banks have their own local advisory committees to discuss issues related to agriculture, labour or small business development, for example.

Money and Macroeconomic Activity – 19%

Basic classical and Keynesian economics: Classical economic theory believes in the supremacy of the market (supply and demand) to determine economic activity; a laissez-faire approach. Government has no business interfering in the market, and increased government spending merely drains resources out of the private sector.

Keynesian (named after US economist John Maynard Keynes) economic theory believes that the market is never perfect, and that aggregate demand and spending – by individuals, businesses and government (including monetary policy) – determine the country’s economic activity. Through its spending, government plays an important part in boosting the economy, especially in times of weak consumer demand and recession. Unlike the classical economists who believe that the market is self-correcting in the long term, Keynesian theorists hold that government fiscal and monetary policies are the only solution to effect short-term corrections.

Monetarism and rational expectations: Keynes believed that, faced with the threat of unemployment in a recession, the rational choice of consumers is to reduce expenditure and increase savings. This has the paradoxical effect of further reducing aggregate demand and GDP. Hence the need for government intervention to jump-start demand. This is known as the ‘Paradox of Thrift’.

Monetarists believe that the market will maintain employment by reducing wages (although Keynes believed that wages are downwardly ‘sticky’), and that controlling the money supply was more important than reducing unemployment. Keynes wanted to protect employment levels, and therefore a degree of inflation – in the short term – was to be expected.

Money and inflation: Inflation is a rise in the general level of prices, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), usually as a result of an increase in the money supply which exceeds the growth in the output of goods and services – ‘too much money chasing too few goods’. Inflation reduces the purchasing power of the dollar.

The classical/monetarist view is that the more government intervenes in the market, the more likely are they to fuel inflation, and ‘crowding out’ (reducing private sector spending and investment through increases in corporate taxes and selling government bonds). This view therefore advocates reduced government spending and borrowing, minimal fiscal intervention (through income and corporation taxes), and a focus on ‘supply-side’ economics.

Monetary Policy in the United States - 20%

Conducting monetary policy The Federal Reserve is responsible for formulating US monetary policy. To do this, they use three main mechanisms: (1) open market operations, managed by the FOMC; (2) the discount rate, and (3) reserve requirements, both managed by the Board of Governors. Together, these three mechanisms determine the demand and supply of money in the system, and hence the ‘price’ of money and credit (the interest rate, known as the Federal Fund Rate).

Open market operations are conducted by buying and selling US Treasury Bills in the market. Buying will increase the money supply and reduce the interest rate; selling will reduce the money supply (take money out of the market) and increase interest rates.

The interest rate at which banks borrow money from the Federal Reserve is called the discount rate. This may be primary credit, secondary credit, or seasonal credit.

The reserve requirement is the amount of money which a bank has to keep in the Fed’s vaults to cover its liabilities against customer deposits, as decided from time to time by the Board of Governors. The higher the reserve requirement, the less money is available to the bank for loans.

Policy effectiveness The general objectives of US monetary policy are to: (1) maximize employment; (2) maintain price stability; and (3) maintain interest rates at a moderate level over the long term.

Monetary vs. fiscal policy Monetary policy is determined by the Federal Reserve through their activities in the open market (buying and selling government bonds by the Federal Open Market Committee – FOMC), determining the discount rate (the rate of interest at which commercial banks borrow money from the Federal Reserve), and reserve requirements (determining how much money banks must hold in reserve to protect their liquidity).

Fiscal policy is the government’s activities in determining the federal budgets, levying and collecting taxes (individual and corporate), and government spending programmes, all of which have an effect on the demand for and supply of money.

As we have seen, there are different theoretical interpretations of which of these policies – or a combination of both – is more effective in managing the economy, and what their effect is on money supply, employment, inflation and the balance of payments.

The financial crisis of 2007/2008 Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s there had been an increasing interest by banks in issuing mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) – bonds backed by mortgages. Many of these were ‘sub-prime’ mortgages, where the property was of poor quality, and the mortgage-holder could barely afford the repayment schedule starting at 8% for the first two years, but increasing to 15% thereafter. The issuing of these bonds reached a peak in 2005-2006, so that by late 2007 many of these sub-prime mortgage holders started to default on their mortgage repayments.

The bubble burst, and banks with a large exposure to these assets had started to report losses. Investment bank Bear Stearns (5th largest in the US) was the first to go in June 2007, shutting down one of its hedge funds with a $3bn loss, and was eventually bought out by JP Morgan in March 2008 (with US government guarantees). UK investment bank Northern Rock soon followed in September 2007 and was rescued by the UK government. Lehman Brothers filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2008, and Merrill Lynch was eventually taken over by Bank of America in September 2011. Insurance giant AIG was another casualty, and was bailed out by the US government (AIG was in their opinion ‘too big to fail’) to the tune of $80bn. The Dow Jones fell by nearly 30%.

Mitsubishi bought a 21% stake in Morgan Stanley for $9bn (the largest check ever written), and the US government got Congress to approve a rescue fund in October 2008 worth $700bn – TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Programme. It took another three years for the markets to stabilize and start to grow again.

The International Monetary System - 7%

a. International monetary institutions and the debt crisis The international monetary system is a set of rules agreed amongst nations regarding the comparative value of their currencies and ways in which trade between countries may be carried out. The exchange of currencies and goods and services between countries through international trade benefits those countries through the improvement in their Balance of Payments (BoP). The first attempt to establish a truly international system of exchange was the Bretton Woods meeting of 44 nations in 1944, which pegged international currencies against the dollar, which in turn was backed by gold. The Bretton Woods system was abandoned in 1971 to be replaced by a floating exchange rate system (the price of one currency in terms of another).

b. International payments and exchange rates National currencies now tend to ‘float’, pegged to the value of one or more of that country’s major trading partners, called a ‘reserve currency’. This could be the US dollar, European euro (increasingly strong), Japanese yen, Swiss franc, or British pound. Fluctuations in these values are monitored by the International Monetary Fund. The IMF was established in 1944 as part of the Bretton Woods Agreement to help manage the fixed rate exchange system, but has evolved to make loans to governments who experience short-term trade deficits. The World Bank, established at the same time to assist with post-World War II reconstruction in Europe, continues to play a role assisting with global reconstruction where there is a need. Both of these institutions are represented at the G20 summits convened to discuss global economic issues and governance.

c. Monetary policy in conjunction with flexible exchange rates When the US unilaterally cut its dollar/gold convertibility in 1971, most currencies continued to ‘peg’ their currencies to the value of the dollar. The dollar effectively became the reserve currency for most nations – the currency they held in their foreign exchange reserves to support the value of their own currencies. Nowadays, most countries hold a ‘basket’ of strong currencies in their foreign exchange reserves. The dollar and these other currencies have effectively become the world’s fiat money.

The IMF effectively assists governments in advising them on exchange rate and balance of payments issues, creating rules for the setting of exchange rates, and setting up instruments to provide liquidity and reserves (such as special drawing rights, or ‘paper gold’).

Although only 36% of IMF-recognised countries float their currencies, this accounts for nearly 80% of all world trade.

Money And Banking Practice Quiz

Do you feel confident to give the practice test a try? The format of the test will be nice and familiar for most as it will be multiple-choice with only one correct answer. When you write your answer make sure to tap (or hover over) the question to give you the answer and an explanation.

All test questions are in a multiple-choice format, with one correct answer and three incorrect options. The following are samples of the types of questions that may appear on the exam.

Warning

Please do keep in mind that we can’t guarantee the accuracy of this quiz, so we do recommend you also run through a full-length practice exam. We’ll recommend some good options in the resources section at the bottom of this page.

Question 1: Which of the following is NOT a function of money?

a) a medium of exchange – people use it to pay for goods and services; b) a unit of account – to compare prices and value of goods and services; c) a replacement for the barter system; d) a standard of deferred payment – a current debt can be paid off at a future date or over time.

Although today’s money did replace the barter system, this is not one of its functions. A fourth function of money missing from the list is “a store of value” – money will keep its current value (more or less) for a future date. The other three functions of money are: • a medium of exchange – people use it to pay for goods and services; • a unit of account – to compare prices and value of goods and services; • a standard of deferred payment – money can be used to pay off a current debt at a future date or over time.

Question 2: An important piece of legislation in 1999 deregulated the commercial banking sector, allowing them to engage in investment banking and insurance activities. This law was:

Glass-Steagall had been promulgated in the early 1930s to separate commercial and investment banking. The Monetary Control Act (or to give it its full name the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 required the Reserve Banks to standardise their practice with regard to the pricing of financial services to depository institutions (banks). There is no “Federal Deposit Insurance Act”, but there is a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) which is there to regulate banks’ lending practices, to make sure that banks do not take excessive risks, and to provide insurance coverage for defaulting bank’s investor deposits.

Question 3: Which of the following functions do commercial banks NOT perform?

a) Become members of the Federal Reserve System; b) Facilitate the flow of funds between lenders and borrowers; c) Efficient allocation of funds; d) Assistance in price discovery.

Commercial banks and other depository institutions are not required to be a member of the FRS, although they do have to abide by its rules and regulations. They do, of course, channel funds between lenders and borrowers by taking deposits for safe-keeping, and lending these funds (at an agreed interest rate) to people and businesses in the form of bank loans. They ensure that funds are efficiently allocated by assessing the credit-worthiness of loan applicants, and setting down conditions for the use and repayment of loans. And they ensure through their competitive pricing policies that funds are distributed equitably (price discovery).

Question 4: The Federal Reserve System is primarily responsible for (select the best answer):

Answer: d. monetary policy and bank regulation are two of the Fed’s primary functions.

The third function is providing financial services to the banks, so answer (b) is correct but not the best answer. Fiscal policy (taxes and government spending programmes) and the national budget is the responsibility of government, so answers (a) and (c) are incorrect.

a) the seven-member Board of Governors based in Washington DC; b) the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC); c) the 12 Federal Reserve Banks spread regionally throughout the US; d) The three statutory advisory councils.

The FOMC comprises the Board of Governors, and the Presidents of five of the Federal Reserve Banks meeting eight times a year in Washington to discuss the US economic outlook and monetary policy. The Committee buys and sells government Treasury Bills which has the effect of injecting money into or withdrawing money from the economy, i.e. changing the money supply.

Answer (a) and some of (c) make up the FOMC, but do not directly influence the money supply on their own. The Statutory Advisory Councils (Federal Advisory Council, Community / Consumer Advisory Council, Thrift Institutions Advisory Council, and Model Validation Council) meet 2-4 times a year to advise the Fed Board of Governors on current economic issues.

Question 6: Which of the following statements is true?

a) Keynesian economic theory adopts a laissez-faire approach to economic activity; b) Classical economic theory supports government interference in the market; c) Keynes believed that controlling the money supply was more important than reducing unemployment; d) Monetarists believe that government fiscal and monetary policy is the solution to correcting economic downturns.

Keynes believed that since markets are by their nature imperfect, government had an important role to play, through its access to fiscal and monetary measures, in controlling the money supply and thus also inflation and unemployment.

The classical theorists wanted the market to be left alone for market forces to correct any imbalances in the economy, which they believed would be the case in the long term.

Question 7: An increase in the overall level of prices:

a) Causes the value of the dollar to rise; b) Makes US products more competitive in international markets; c) Can be controlled by injecting more money into the economy; d) Is a characteristic of inflation.

This is the simple definition of inflation. Prices rise, the purchasing power of the dollar declines, and US goods and services become less competitive in international markets. Increasing the money supply will only make the situation worse – too much money chasing too few goods.

All of these answers have some truth in them – none are blatantly incorrect – but (a) states two of the three primary monetary policy mechanisms practiced by the Federal Banking System. Answer (b) is the same as the open market operations practiced by the FOMC; (c) is the third of the three primary functions of the Fed; and (d) is one of the outcomes of the Fed’s activities.

Question 9: The financial crisis of 2007/2008 was brought about mainly by:

a) The collapse of some of the major US investment banks; b) The inability of some banks to fund customers’ withdrawals; c) The collapse of the sub-prime market; d) Banks’ issuing of mortgage-backed securities.

The cause of the crisis is complex, and due to a number of concurrent factors, but probably the main causal factor was banks’ over-reliance on issuing MBSs against poor quality sub-prime mortgages. This in turn led to (c) the collapse of that particular market, followed by the bankruptcy of some major banking and investment institutions, and their inability to meet their financial obligations to their customers.

Question 10: What was Bretton Woods and why did it collapse?

a) An early meeting of the G5 countries to agree on monetary policy, which didn’t work because it didn’t include developing countries. b) A meeting in 1944 which pegged international currencies to the dollar; it collapsed because the US dropped the gold standard. c) A meeting to establish the gold standard; it collapsed because the supply of gold was insufficient to provide backing for all the money in circulation. d) A meeting between nations to agree on flexible exchange rates; it collapsed because of fears that the US budget deficit would erode the value of all currencies tied to the dollar.

The US uncoupling the dollar from gold in 1971 led to the current situation of flexible exchange rates tied to a basket of ‘reserve currencies’. The G5 countries began to include other global players in their meetings in recognition of the importance which developing economies had started to contribute to world trade, leading to the formation of today’s G20 (in addition to the United Nation’s agencies, the IMF and World Bank). The gold standard collapsing was part of the reason for the collapse of the Bretton Woods agreement – but (c) is incorrect as stated, as is (d), although similar fears have been aired in some quarters.

More DSST Study Resources

Are you at the beginning of your study process, or just looking for a couple more practice questions to finish prepping for your exam? In either case, you can find some of my favorite resources below. Some of the links below are affiliate (Amazon for instance), which means they’ll pay us a few bucks for every purchase through the link. Feel free to use those links if you want to support the site, but you can also just Google the title or pick the book up at your local library.

Official DSST Practice Test: Ok, so the DSST website isn’t the most inviting, but it will give you the best approximation of the real exam experience. Also, the official practice test is quite affordable (currently just $5 per practice exam).

ACE THE CLEP – DSST Money and Banking: Textbooks are great as far as they go, but I’d generally recommend you opt for this exam guide instead. It tends to cut through the confusion and help you accelerate your learning process.

InstantCert Academy: Another website with a very dated design, but as ancient as it looks, this is actually an incredibly valuable resource. Basically, you get a massive set of flashcards that you can use to learn Money and Banking and to really solidify that knowledge so you’re ready for the exam.

Plenty of other resources exist – just do a quick internet search – but these are a fantastic start, and probably all you really need. I’ve personally done some exams with just InstantCert and the official practice test.

Congrats on starting your DSST study journey! Study hard, earn credit, and most of all remember to have fun.